I would like to know about this lovely lady, she looks as a loving wife and also good hearted.
Sophie Marie Friederike was the youngest child and sixth daughter of Johann of Saxony and his wife Amalie, née Princess of Bavaria. She was born on 15 March 1845 in Dresden. Sophie spent most of her childhood in Weesenstein, a small castle in Saxon Switzerland, without a lot of luxury. Amalie and Johann tried to create an informal athmosphere there.
Sophie and her father were very close to each other. In November 1851 Johann wrote to his 6-year-old daughter:
Beloved Sophiechen! I haven't kept my promise to write to you yet. But today I won't forget it. I am happy that you are reunited with your sisters and I think that Anna (Anna of Saxony) will play with you every day. Just like in Dresden, it's winter here and we have a lot of snow. But the snow is melting fast, because the sun is much warmer. You would be very fond of Lili's (Elisabeth of Saxony) little dogs who are running around in the house. Good bye, my good Sophiechen. Be studious, pious and polite, because I want to have only good news about you. Yours faithfully, Papa. My greetings to your brothers and sisters.In 1864 Ludovica invited her sister Amalie and her niece Sophie to stay in Possenhofen for the summer season. Ludovica wanted Sophie to be some kind of model for her own daughter Sophie Charlotte. In Ludovica's opinion, Sophie was
modest, lively and feminine - which Sophie Charlotte obviously wasn't. Sophie and Sophie Charlotte became very close.
Contemporaries describe Sophie as warmhearted, sometimes a bit larky. But Sophie was also very intelligent. The ducal family sometimes was really scared by her clear intellect.
In this summer, Carl Theodor and Sophie fell in love with each other. When they went to Bernried by carriage, they decided to marry. On 22 August 1864 Amalie wrote to her husband:
Sophie said yes and wants to have your blessing. Carl hopes to see you in Augsburg. Amélie.Carl and his fiancée spent three weeks in Switzerland. Then, on 11 February 1865, they married. Amalie and Johann were very sad when Sophie left them one week later. Until 1865 they had already lost four of their six daughters. The couple spent their honeymoon in the south of Europe.
Everybody in Munich liked the young duchess. When Sophie met her father-in-law Max, a difficult character, for the second time, he gave her the permission to say "you" to him. Sophie Charlotte wrote to Ludwig II.:
I love her so much! I couldn't image a nicer sister-in-law! Only Empress Elisabeth didn't like her, because for her Sophie was the reason why Carl Theodor didn't have so much time anymore. She even wrote to her children:
Uncle Gackel isn't allowed to visit me, because he is married now. She was jelous.
In March 1865 Sophie wrote to her father:
To entertain us, Gackel started to play the piano and we all started to scream like chickens. Sophie Charlotte sang an aria and the famous dog Pruß finally started to bark. We are silly, dad, aren't we?On 24 December 1865 Sophie gave birth to her only child Amalie Maria, called Amélie. 11 days after Amélie's birth, Sophie had a temperature, she had problems to breath and felt very sick. The doctors told Carl Theodor that his wife suffered from pleurisy. It took Sophie three months until she was able to leave her bed again.
On 27 February 1867 Sophie went to a dance in the Four Seasons Hotel. The next morning she felt sick. First of all everyone thought that the duchess caught a cold, but in fact she was seriously ill and suffered from a laryngitis. She received the last sacraments - not for the last time. Until she died, Sophie was unconscious most of the time. Whenever she had a clear moment, her rigid eyes looked at Carl Theodor.
On 8 March Carl Theodor wrote to Johann:
Decomposition of strength is maintaining. Consciousness is fading. High temperature. Laryngitis a bit better. Not much hope. And the nex morning, 9 March 1867:
She is going to die. One hour later:
Our angel passed away.Amalie collapsed. She had lost her sixth child far too early.
Carl Theodor looked like a corpse himself. He wasn't able to attend the funeral. Prince Ludwig (later Ludwig III.) brought Sophie's coffin to Banz where she was laid to rest. Later her mortal remains were transferred to Tegernsee.
Carl Theodor was devastated. It took him 7 years until he was willing to remarry. I think because of Sophie's early death, Amélie has always been his favourite daughter. In Amélie his beloved first wife was still alive.
